Court ruling challenges tax status of trusts left for pet care

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The menagerie of pets owned by veterinarian Lesley King — two horses, two dogs, two cats and a flock of chickens — inherited a small fortune from their owner when she died two years ago.

While the animals will surely enjoy the best that money can buy for as long as they live, they have already lost a sizable chunk of their fortune now that a Pennsylvania court has ruled they will have to pay taxes on the windfall.

A recent decision by the Chester County Orphans’ Court Division clarified that Pennsylvania inheritance taxes must be paid on trusts established to care for animals after their owner dies. The court also determined that the $410,000 the animals in the King case inherited would be taxed at the highest rate possible — 15 percent — for a total of $61,000.

“The government will get you any way they can with taxes, even if you are an animal,” said Amanda DiChello, a trusts and estate lawyer at the Cozen O’Conner law firm in Philadephia. She was not involved in the case but followed it closely.

The good news for animals and pet lovers in other parts of Pennsylvania is that the ruling in Chester County is not binding throughout the state. It applies only to Chester County.

In fact, a similar 2015 court case in Westmoreland County ended with a ruling in favor of the animals.

Monroeville attorney Scott Magnuson fought a case involving a $137,000 trust established for the benefit of six thoroughbred horses. He won based on his argument that horses are